I have an 8 1/2 month old, 6 pound, miniature dachshund. About 8 days ago, I noticed her nipples were slightly bigger than normal. I was planning on taking her to the vet to see if she was ready to be fixed (my vet recommended waiting until she was 8 months old to give all her baby teeth time to fall out) but the night before I was to take her, I noticed her vulva was swollen and protruding. I wiped her and a brownish color appeared. I was still not 100% she was in heat due to the color.

The next morning I checked her again – her vulva was even more swollen and the discharge had now changed to bright red blood. It has now been 3 days since I first noticed the swelling and discharge/blood.

I did a lot of research online but have gotten conflicting information about almost everything that has to do with a dog in heat, including how many stages there are in the heat cycle, what happens in each cycle, what color the discharge/blood changes and when, when she would be most fertile, etc. I read that one way to know for sure she was in heat was to scratch the top of her butt right before her tail and if she moves her tail to the side she is definitely in heat. THEN I read that means she is already in the 2nd stage of the heat cycle. I’ve also read conflicting timelines of cycle from 2 weeks to 4.

I’m so lost and confused and hesitant to go to the vet. I don’t know if it is safe to take her because of the possibility of the presence of male dogs. I don’t want to be the idiot first time pet parent who will just get told ‘all dogs are different. there’s no way to know anything’.